[donw]

Pretty much every major social change has been violently opposed by pre-existing power structures, so I'm not sure that's a meaningful distinction.

Is there another region outside of Europe that independently came up with a similar set of ideals as to what emerged from the Enlightenment[1]?

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Age_of_Enlightenment

[empath75]

I’m not saying it didn’t originate in Europe. I am saying that most Europeans opposed it for centuries and it’s barely holding on in a lot of Europe even today. There’s nothing about the western mind or western culture that makes it more suited for institutions based around those principles. It was a long struggle to achieve them and it will be a long struggle to keep them. People of the west were no more well suited to them then the Chinese were especially well suited to invent or use gunpowder and paper money.

[donw]

Ah, I suspect we're in violent agreement with each other.

The Enlightenment certainly originated in the West (Western Europe), and while there are certain cultural aspects that are more compatible with Enlightenment ideals -- primus inter pares and such -- there is no reason why those ideals couldn't find a new home in some other region (Asia, Africa, etc.)

Ideas are bound, not by borders, but by brains.